


Patches

by sugarblossom



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:29:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarblossom/pseuds/sugarblossom
Summary: Alain couldn't just *not* worry for Ash, could he?
Relationships: Alan | Alain & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Satoshi no Pikachu | Ash Ketchum's Pikachu
Comments: 9
Kudos: 121





	Patches

**Author's Note:**

> TW: slight mention of scrapes on arms

As the shadows around them dragged out like taffy, Alain and Charizard brushed aside a low branch to watch the native pokemon.

As Alain jotted down some notes about their forms, Charizard perked up.

Alain blinked when Charizard padded off before following.

Ambling through the forest, Alain asked, “What’s wrong, bud?”

Charizard growled, jabbing a claw in the direction they were headed.

Soon, the sound of a flute rustled through the air.

Alain and Charizard walked towards a small clearing in the forest patch.

The flute stopped.

“I’m so glad you have been getting along!” a voice said.

Freezing, Alain stared at Charizard.

A growl sounded. Charizard stayed silent.

“Whoa, really? I guess that makes sense! That day was pretty hectic, not gonna lie. Oh,  _ that _ day, definitely. Where even were you when we needed-”

Alain took a sharp breath.

“...Who’s there?” The voice crept closer. “Don’t be scared- What do you mean you recognize them, Pikachu?”

Alain took a step forward.

He locked eyes with Ash, who startled, visibly gulping. 

The mountains of wild pokemon around Ash fled.

Fur bristling, Pikachu scampered in front of Ash.

Charizard poked at Alain, growling when a flash of green appeared above Ash.

“Alain!” Ash grinned. “It’s been a while!”

“Yeah.” Alain turned to the side, wincing as Charizard hissed. “...Wait, is that  _ Rayquaza _ ?!”

Ash snapped out of his stupor, stepping between Alain and the legendary. “Shhh, it’s alright!” He turned to Rayquaza, murmuring, “It’s alright. I’m just overreacting.” Rayquaza huffed, still keeping an eye on Alain and Charizard.

Patting Charizard’s back, Alain said, “We mean no harm!”

Pikachu chirped to Rayquaza with a weak smile.

“You look like you’ve been doing well, Alain. I’m glad!” Ash said while patting Rayquaza.

“...You too.” 

Ash sweatdropped, fidgeting with a white flute before putting his arms behind him. 

Charizard walked over to Pikachu, chatting with him while Ash scooched over and nudged Alain’s side. “But you’d rather stay for Rayquaza than me?” Ash joked.

Alain didn’t answer.

“Kidding, kidding!” Ash chuckled, patting Alain’s shoulder. “Oh, are you ok with physical touch?”

“Yeah sure?” Alain said.

“Just checking.” Ash slung an arm over Alain’s shoulder, twirling his flute. “It’s really been a while! Please sit down!”

Alain sat down next to Ash, staring directly at Rayquaza.

Shrugging at Alain, Charizard scooped Pikachu into their arms.

Rayquaza growled, half curling around Ash and glaring at Alain. 

“...Did you recently buy that flute?” Alain awkwardly asked.

Ash held the flute out. “Nah, it was a prize.”

Alain tilted his head, staring at Ash instead of the legendary over him. “From a competition?”

“Yep! The Battle Frontier Flute Cup!”

“Battle frontier, huh? Congrats.”

Pikachu cheered from afar with Charizard and Rayquaza chuckling at him.

“The recent one here, not the Kanto one.” Ash chuckled, murmuring to Rayquaza about an Articuno and how they were ‘so much tamer’. 

“...So you know the Kanto one?”

“Yeah they’re all great people!”

Alain froze. He watched as Ash gestured with the flute like a baton, wildly waving his arms when describing  _ every _ Kanto battle frontier.

Wait.

“What happened to your arms?”

Ash scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile, glancing down at his arm. “Oh, it’s nothing serious. We accidentally got lost and quite literally stumbled across Ray here.” He chuckled as Rayquaza chirped, bobbing their head. Pikachu hopped out of Charizard’s arms, padding over to his trainer.

“But you’re still hurt-”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve had worse! It always seems to heal, pretty quickly!” Ash stared at his flute instead of Alain.

“‘ _ Seems  _ to’?” 

Pikachu stared up at Ash, squeaking when Ash absentmindedly began picking at his scabs. “I mean-”

Alain pulled Ash’s hand up. “Please don’t.”

Charizard huffed, staring at Ash.

Rayquaza tilted their head, crouching to make themselves less threatening.

Ash blinked before murmuring, “It’s fine. You don’t have to bother-”

“At least they’re not  _ too  _ bad. Do you have ointment for these? Neosporin?”

“It’s  _ fine _ ,” Ash said, fidgeting with his flute.

Dropping Ash’s hand, Alain put his hands on his hips. “This part of you hasn't changed, I see. Here, at the very least I can help you put bandages on the worst ones.”

Ears twitching, Pikachu patted Ash’s leg.

Ash stared as Alain pulled out an entire first aid kit. “You really don’t have to. Literally.”

“...Are you seriously going to wait until it gets worse before asking for help? If ever?” Ash fell silent. Alain tore the packaging off a bandage. “Can I?”

Smirking at Rayquaza, Charizard stepped closer to their trainer.

“That’s sweet.” Pause. “Yeah sure, only if you’re sure.” Ash clutched his flute tighter.

Alain raised an eyebrow, smoothing the bandage over a long scratch. 

Ash was oddly silent.

Pikachu’s ears wilted as he stared at his trainer.

“You  _ better  _ go get professional help if these get worse.”

Ash didn’t complain.

Rayquaza slithered side to side, nodding to Charizard. Charizard gave them a thumbs up, while Pikachu smiled at his trainer.

As Alain finished bandaging Ash’s arms, Ash bit his lip. 

“I… Thank you.” He glanced up with questions in his eyes, absentmindedly tapping his flute against his leg.

“I used to get into a lot of trouble,” Alain said, patting Pikachu. “Especially being Professor Sycamore’s assistant when I was younger.”

Ash forced a smile, not meeting Alain’s eyes as he tucked his flute away. “Oh yeah, you’re currently his assistant again, right?” Ash asked while flicking at his bandages. “I recently became Professor Cerise’s assistant. It’s another reason why I’m here in Hoenn, actually. So we’ll definitely meet up again! That’s exciting, right?”

Alain watched as Ash turned away, blinking when Rayquaza chirped to Ash.

Charizard tilted their head, curious.

“Yeah, I’m sure Gou would love to meet you-” Rayquaza narrowed their eyes- “Ok ok, I get it.” Ash sighed, turning back. “So Alain, what are  _ you  _ doing here?”

“Documenting Hoenn pokemon and seeing how their forms and therefore evolution and mega evolution differ from those in Kalos.”

“Oh, Professor Rowan specializes in that, right? I think Gou mentioned the Beautifly migration coming up as well?” Ash asked before murmuring to himself, “I should pay him a visit sometimes. Maybe I’ll meet up with Gary again?”

Pikachu’s ears perked up in excitement, swatting up at Ash when he subconsciously picked at the edge of his bandages.

“Mhm! Evolutions and form changes, kinda like-” Alain cut himself off, staring off.

“Greninja, yeah, makes sense. I should really visit them too.” Ash hummed thoughtfully, joking, “If you’re heading to Kalos I gotta face Kalos as well!”

“...Will do.”

Nodding to Ash, Pikachu darted back next to Charizard and Rayquaza.

“But anyways, you need any help with different regional forms? I didn’t travel through so many major regions for nothing, you know!” 

Alain peeked at Rayquaza and Charizard, who were both listening to Pikachu as he gestured wildly. Like trainer like pokemon, huh. 

“No doubt. I’ll ask help when I need it, alright?”

Ash stared at him as if it was a foreign concept, running his fingers up and down his arm.

“...Cool. Yeah, your research is cool.”

“ _ This _ , cool?” Alain gestured to Rayquaza with a smile. “What about you? How many  _ legendaries _ have you befriended?”

Ash winced.

Alain froze.

“Hm, I dunno!” Ash chirped, hugging himself. Alain didn’t respond. “Oh, seeing you makes me think of Larvitar! Hey Pikachu, we should visit Larvitar and see if they want to join the team!”

Pikachu chirped, bounding up and down and climbing on Rayquaza’s head.

Charizard cackled at them, causing Pikachu to leap at them.

Alain glanced off. “You… want tips on training a Tyranitar?”

“Only if they want to evolve. Right, Pikachu?” Ash said on instinct. “Even if you want the footage or something, I’m gonna force Larvitar to evolve.”

Alain stared at Ash.

Did… he need a reason to help?

Pikachu sighed before squeaking in agreement.

Charizard and Rayquaza shared a glance.

Cracking a smile, Alain leaned back on his palms. “Right. You know where to contact me.”

“...You don’t have to prove your worth through helping-” Ash murmured before yelling, “Um! So uh, Kalos, right?” He awkwardly chuckled.

“Weathered a difficult patch as well?”

Ash stared over at Rayquaza before down at his arms. “ _ Still  _ not over it. But you know, the usual. Can we not-” Alain furrowed his eyebrows- “Not to invalidate your experiences, sorry, I… I… I don’t… And I was the one who brought up the topic, um… Kalos  _ is _ great, but I uh… hm...”

Pikachu perked up, hopping over and patting Ash’s shoe.

“No, I get it.”

Ash hugged Pikachu, slightly leaning against Alain.

Alain didn’t complain. 

“I’m not over it either, so I can’t  _ possibly  _ understand what you’re going through.”

Rayquaza stopped chatting with Charizard, glancing over and purring.

Ash silently ran a finger over his arm, taking a sharp breath. Pikachu stared up at him.

“I do understand if you want to leave-” Alain started.

Leaning his head over, Ash almost looked offended as he stared up at Alain. “What. Why are  _ you _ asking that?”

They stared at each other.

Pikachu hopped next to them, watching Ash lean more and more to the verge of falling over.

Alain sweatdropped. “You’re gonna-”

Ash fell over. 

He stared up at the dimming sky with blank eyes. 

Pikachu and Charizard peeked over as Alain tapped Ash’s forehead.

Rayquaza sweatdropped.

“Everyone leaves me, don’t they?”

They froze.

Alain blinked, shuffling forward and pulling Ash up to face him. 

“Maybe I should cut ties with everyone. The less people I become friends with, the less people I’ll eventually disappoint. But there’s also fewer people who might care. Oh who am I kidding, why would anyone care? When is the other shoe going to drop?”

Pikachu’s ears drooped.

Rayquaza glanced off, with Charizard narrowing their eyes at them.

Staring into Ash’s glazed eyes, Alain waved a hand next to Ash’s face. “What are you  _ talking  _ about?”

“People wouldn’t like it if their chosen one failed, would they? People wouldn’t like it if their chosen one couldn’t please them, would they? People-”

Alain hugged Ash.

“...You’re warm.”

Alain rolled his eyes.

Scooching over, Pikachu patted Ash’s arm. Charizard stared at Rayquaza, nodding.

Ash ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. Guess I’m more tired than I thought, hehe.” Alain stayed silent, creasing his eyebrows. “Oh, you aren’t  _ worried _ about me, are you?” Yawning, Ash stood up. “Don’t. Thoughts are weird.”

Ash’s head rolled to the side. Ash jolted when Rayquaza kept him on his feet. 

Alain got up, hands twitching.

Ash only dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

“...Should we head back? Where were you even planning to sleep?” Alain asked. 

Rayquaza glanced at Pikachu, who sweatdropped.

“Probably just here. I’ll get myself un-lost tomorrow morning. Call Gou and Professor Cerise. They’re probably worried. Maybe see if my Charizard could pick me up or som-”

“You have a Charizard? Since when???”

Alain’s Charizard perked up, growling.

Ash only shrugged. “Quite a while. He’s used to this.”

Running a hand down his face, Alain fondly shook his head. “Alright alright. It’s never dull with you around, huh.” Alain ruffled Ash’s hair before putting the cap on Ash’s head. “Let’s go-”

Alain stared as Ash laid back down, eyelids fluttering.

Pikachu chirped, patting Ash’s face.

Charizard and Rayquaza exchanged an amused look. 

Squatting, Alain crossed his arms. “So? Want me to call Professor Cerise for you?”

“Don’t burden yourself.”

All of the pokemon sighed.

Alain propped his head up on his knee with a hand. “So what do you-”

“Oh yeah I just remembered. Speaking of Pikachu wanting to defeat your Metagross again, I don’t always befriend every pokemon I meet.”

Tilting his head, Pikachu curled up next to Ash.

“What.”

“You know, Steven.” Ash yawned, poking at his arms. “We should visit him too! I didn’t even know he was the Hoenn Champion until Kalos.”

Charizard snorted, causing Rayquaza to roll their eyes.

Rolling his eyes, Alain hummed in agreement. “Why am I not surprised. So…?” 

After a pause, Ash sighed. “Alright, let’s go. Thanks… for being here.”

Pikachu grinned, ears flicking.

Alain held out a hand to Ash, softly teasing, “Do I need to piggyback you out of here?”

Ash’s smile twitched into a grin as he took it.

**Author's Note:**

> Partially inspired by stormy1x2!
> 
> How's everyone doing? I hope well, if not alright!


End file.
